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Veal Loaf

A loaf of finely chopped veal mixed with salt pork, eggs, crackers, milk, salt, pepper, and butter, baked until cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, mix the veal, salt pork, eggs, crushed crackers, milk, salt, pepper, and butter until well combined.

  3. Shape the mixture into long rolls and place them on a baking sheet.

  4. Dot the rolls with small pieces of butter.

Bake and cool

  1. Bake for 2 hours, basting often with a mixture of water and butter seasoned to taste.

  2. Allow to cool before slicing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,930 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  3. Pork + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,933 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms the main body of the loaf and sets into a firm, sliceable texture when baked.
Eggs
Bind the meat and crackers together and set as the loaf bakes, holding its shape.
Crackers
Absorb liquid and fat, keeping the loaf tender rather than dense.
Salt pork
Adds fat that melts during baking, keeping the meat moist and flavorful.
Milk
Adds moisture that softens the crackers and helps the mixture bind evenly.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and moisture, both mixed in and dotted on top for browning.

The step that matters

Allow to cool before slicing. As the loaf cools, the egg proteins finish setting and the melted fat firms up. Slicing it hot can make it crumble or fall apart.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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